The CTBUH Global News Archive is the primary place to get all the latest news on tall buildings, urban development and sustainable construction from around the world. The CTBUH also disseminates this information via our Monthly e-Newsletter, CTBUH Journal, and through books and reports. To view news for a certain category or time period, please use the links on the left side menu.

Extell Development Co., one of New York's most prolific developers, is opening a 34-story $750 million skyscraper in Manhattan's Diamond District this week. Extell hopes to change the face of the storied neighborhood by installing extreme security technology in the SOM-designed International Gem Tower. Read more.

Italian design firm and coachbuilder Pininfarina is launching a condominium tower concept in Singapore. Pininfarina's plan for the 104-unit, 335-foot (102-meter) Ferra Luxury Residences tower was created as an extension of the company's automobile aesthetic. Read more.

One of New York City's largest landlords, Thor Equities, has offered more than $2.1 billion in cash to buy the Empire State Building, the company said on Thursday. It is the third unsolicited offer for the skyscraper, which is set to become the centerpiece of a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT). Read more.

The city of Quincy, Massachusetts, has launched a $1.6 billion initiative to dramatically redevelop the city with 3.5 million square feet (325,000 square meters) of new construction. The efforts include a series of mixed-use tall buildings designed to attract hundreds of young professional residents to the city center. Read more.

San Antonio-based real estate firm The Lynd Co. and its partners closed a deal for 900,000 square feet (83,000 square meters) of space at the 100-story John Hancock Center. The group purchased the portion of property for about $140 million, The Wall Street Journal reports. Read more.

Design, engineering and project management firm Atkins has released concept designs for a pebble-inspired office building in Limassol, Cyprus. The commercial tower, which has recently achieved planning permission, will offer a series of office units looking out over the coastline of the island. Read more.

The Freedom Tower was renamed the One World Trade Center in 2009, but many are still attached to the original name, according to The Wall Street Journal. Renaming a tower, especially one which is so important in American society, is a complex process that may never fully be completed. Read more.

The Eiffel Tower was closed on Tuesday, June 25, at the height of the tourist season, following a strike by workers for better work conditions and more pay. The influential CGT union (General Confederation of Labor) called the strike after seven hours of failed last-minute talks on Monday. Read more.

Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal says the project to build the world's future tallest skyscraper in Jeddah is progressing as planned. The prince made the announcement at the fourth board meeting of the Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), the company set up to develop the 1-kilometer (3,280-foot) Kingdom Tower. Read more.

Google has taken its Street View imagery to the top of the Burj Khalifa, under the direction of Pascal Malite, Street View Program Manager. Google spent three days at the Burj Khalifa, where, using its new Street View Trekker technology, a team was able to capture some stunning photos. Read more.

Plans to build the UK's tallest residential tower in Canary Wharf have been deferred by Tower Hamlets Council due to concerns over the height of the building. Developer Chalegrove Properties wants to build a 75-story tower on the site of the former City Pride pub at 15 Westferry Road. Read more.

A series of towers as tall as 40 stories and a major town square have been proposed to revamp Sydney's Haymarket as part of a AU$2.5 billion revival of Darling Harbour. The City of Sydney has since called for the removal of one tower from the proposal in order to avoid a wind-tunnel effect from the development. Read more.

Select Property has announced that its West Avenue project in Dubai Marina has sold over 90 percent in five months. The $109 million residential tower is the first to be launched on the Marina since the downturn for 2008, Construction Week reports. Read more.

NI Group Ltd.’s former headquarters in Wapping, East London, will be transformed into a residential district with up to 1,800 new homes in towers ranging between five and 33 stories. The proposals include affordable housing, educational facilities and more than 20,000 square meters (215,000 square feet) of commercial space. Read more.

Development proposals for a 60-acre, 22-tower complex in the Kakaako district of Honolulu will soon be presented to the Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA). The first phase would include a 400-foot (122-meter), 424-unit condominium tower, to be built at 404 Ward Avenue. Read more.

David Walker Architects has submitted a planning application for an 89-meter high rise in London's Albert Embankment on the Thames, The Architects’ Journal reports. The mixed-use tower will be built between a proposed Foster + Partners project and an under-construction Roger Stirk Harbour + Partners project. Read more.

Griffith University's Head of Architecture, Professor Gordon Holden, has expressed concerns that many of Gold Coast's most iconic high-rises may be suffering from "concrete cancer." The problem is caused by weather and atmosphere, and is degrading the poorly-built structures in the city, GoldCoast.com reports. Read more.

Three thrill seekers broke onto the roof of Chicago's Trump Tower overnight Thursday, June 20, and jumped from a roof area of the 1,389-foot (423-meter) skyscraper using parachutes. The trio was spotted jumping around 12:30 AM, prompting a series of 911 calls from Trump Tower residents. Read more.

A St. Petersburg court has struck down the exemption which previously granted Russian oil giant Gazprom permission to build its Okhta Center. The site, which contains remains of an ancient Swedish fortress from the time of Peter the Great's rule, is now on the city's cultural heritage protection list. Read more.

Billionaire business tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump is lending his brand to a new Vancouver project, developed by Holborn. The real estate magnate announced the new $360 million Trump International Hotel & Tower Vancouver as a press event at the future building site on June 18. Read more.

An undulating 12-story office tower designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates will be built on the site of West 15th Street and Ninth Avenue in New York sometime next year. With an anticipated opening in 2016, Prince Tower is being developed by the owners of the lumberyard, Prince Lumber. Read more.

A newly updated plan for the Mirvish + Gehry development on King Street West in Toronto was released by developer Projectcore this week. Originally announced last October, three Frank Gehry-designed towers will replace low-rise brick warehouse office buildings and the Princess of Wales Theater. Read more.

A ceremony marking the topping-out of The Leadenhall Building was held on Tuesday, June 18, attended by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London. Owned by the joint venture of British Land and Oxford Properties, the building has been under construction since early 2011 and is due to complete in summer 2014. Read more.

Dalian Wanda Group, one of China's largest property developers, announced it will launch a two-tower hotel and apartment complex in western London as part of a multi-billion dollar international property expansion. The skyscraper project will cost around £700 million (US$1.1 billion). Read more.

The New York City Council has approved a 32-story tower next to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) as part of efforts to increase the number of below-market-rate apartments in the area. The tower will also house a 109-year-old branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, which would otherwise have been forced to close. Read more.

The Los Angeles City Council committee has approved a proposal to cut the height of the Millennium Hollywood Towers by 25 percent. Millennium Partners has agreed to build shorter structures to frame the nearby iconic Capitol Records building, The Los Angeles Times reports. Read more.

Brookfield Office Properties has launched the final piece of its Brookfield Place on St. Georges Terrace in Perth. The company announced immediate plans to build a second 16-story tower in the development, adding 34,000 square meters (366,000 square feet) of office space to the complex. Read more.

OMA has won the Tors Torn Competition for the development of two mixed-use towers in the new Hagastaden area of Stockholm. The two 100-meter (328-foot) landmark buildings will stand as the third-tallest skyscrapers in the Swedish capital, defining the area and city's growing center. Read more.

At the CTBUH London Conference, Make Architects founding partner Ken Shuttleworth called for a designation of corridors to be put in place to protect views of The Gherkin. According to the architect, the building deserves official protection to prevent its being shrouded by new developments. Read more.

Oxford Properties Group has unveiled plans to develop the new 40-story Ernst & Young Tower in the heart of downtown Toronto. The KPF-designed tower will be part of Oxford's full-block Richmond Adelaide Centre mixed-use complex and is scheduled for completion in 2017. Read more.